Youth arrested after Grand Island car theft and state police chase

A 17-year-old boy who drove an allegedly stolen car with four blown tires into Buffalo’s Riverside area after stealing it on Grand Island late Tuesday afternoon was taken into custody by state police about 5 p.m.

The youth, whose name is not being released, was spotted by state troopers driving the stolen car on Ransom Road on Grand Island about 4:45 p.m.. but he drove quickly over the bridge to Buffalo and the Niagara Thruway.

Though troopers had spike strips installed on the pavement, the boy drove over them, destroying all four tires and got off the Thruway at Ontario Street. He eventually sideswiped a state police patrol car on Arthur Street and, at Arthur and Tonawanda Street, slammed into a truck, whose driver was taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center with what were reportedly non-life threatening injuries. The boy was captured after a short foot chase and now faces numerous charges, state police said.